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Friday

liebemarlene vintage: an online vintage store with quirky little dresses and a lot of items under $30. (sounds like vintage utopia, right?)

while browsing through the captivating ruby pr blog I stumbled upon the liebemarlene vintage shop and the accompanying flickr page. Her style (while not quite for the masses) has a wonderfully whimsical and feminine streak to it. some shots below. side note: especially love a) the white lace dress/caramel booties combo and b) the brocade carpet bag in the last shot.

Thursday

top knots (which were all over the runway and have been hailed the “it” hair style of 2010) are the perfect run-out-the-door hair-do: they’re less severe than a traditional bun, but more playful than a chignon. they are quite transformative too: paired with large earrings they give off a casual chic vibe; accompanied with tasteful studs they denote timeless elegance.

with a traditional top knot perfection is the enemy: the messier they are the better.

while traditional top knots are appealing in a simple Parisian way, seeing a twist on them is also quite refreshing. like a bitingly tart lemon sorbet on a summer evening. (trader joes. three dollars. seriously.) example: for an edgier knot try Chanel Iman’s Mohawk bun (worn during the black coffee runway 2010 runway show).

or for a more polished, upper east side look (when time is not your enemy) try this asymmetrical twist-knot seen at a michael kors runway show during london fashion week.

a jeweled hair comb is also an elegant way to dress up a non-traditional bun with minimal effort. in april we’ll be doing an ad campaign for the onyx feather line. hopefully we’ll be able to sneak some messy, asymmetrical top knots somewhere in the photoshoot.

Tuesday

did a whirlwind tour of los angeles earlier this week and three things stood out about the city:

1. the traffic. (absolutely horrid)

2. LA girls (a separate post will be dedicated to this topic)

3. the graffiti.

there is a certain sexiness to graffiti. maybe it's the rebellious, creative yet artful nature of it?

or perhaps it's the allure of sudden art spawned by unsung artists. whatever it may be, graffiti-inspired prints have plastered themselves on the runways and shown that their brazen quality translates as well onto textiles as it does abandoned buildings.

Tuesday

Sunday

not a fan of pink. or the gooeyness of valentine's day. but decided to give in a little to the love swirling about in the air and feature some v-day themed clutches with unusual prints and textures (and varying price points).

Monday

most women are extremely wary of skinny belts and rightly so. the skinny belt is a tricky apparatus that can make a woman look either bewitchingly chic and streamlined or reminiscent of an italian sausage hanging in the window of a butcher's shop.

general skinny belt guidelines

1. wear them above the navel (tiniest part of the waist).
2. they particularly flatter long torsos and hour glass figures.
3. they look chic on shift dresses, over cardigans, and cinching well-tailored blazers.
4. don't limit them to the torso: they look great in the belt loops of pants, skirts and shorts.
5. never play it safe with skinny belts: the more monochromatic or dull an outfit is, the more a brightly-hued skinny belt adds complexity to it.
6. over-styling is an easy skinny belt trap, don't fall in! (example below.)

J. Crew handles the art of styling the skinny belt pretty well (mostly).

what: thread sence, a quirky and affordable online store. why:just as mod cloth seems to be the cheaper alternative to anthropologie, thread sence is the more affordable response to urban outfitters.note: the self titled "indie urban" styling in their online campaign.

Saturday

a great closet building block is a navy blazer. it's less austere than a black one and it's a) the appropriate tool to dress up or dress down an outfit, b) perfect for layering, c) all-purpose: you can wear a navy blazer fall through spring and d) is a strong neutral that complements a lot of colors: purples, greys, mustards, creams, tans, kelly green, etc. (if you have an instinct for playing with color you can get away with wearing the infamous navy + black combination.)

the key to pulling off a blazer is the fit: it needs to fit properly around the shoulder/chest area or you'll just look like a hassled soccer mom from the early nineties. blazers work wonderfully with skinny jeans, shorts, mini skirts, tunics, belted over dresses...the list is endless. Lucky mag has a must-see 4 min video tutorial on 5 different ways to wear a navy blazer for those who need a bit of guidance. the looks range from casual Parisian, to bohemian and laid back all-American. worth checking out if you are trying to figure out how to style one multiple ways.

here are some navy blazers with different price points. (tip: Zara and H&M are great destinations for inexpensive ones.) the blazer featured above is the Need Supply Dressage coat ($58).

Friday

according to every weather cast in the dc metro area there is to be a blizzard/storm/snowpocalypse that will dump enough powder to bury the entire Capitol building and leave it in a cryogenic state for 20 years. (at least that was the mood at Harris Teeter last night while everyone irritably stood in two hour grocery lines clutching bread, milk, and buckets of sizzling Teeter fried chicken.)

here are three boots (organized by price) that can help you either stylishly trek through an endlessly blizzard or simply splash through a rainy day.